Does Google's Android violate the GPL? This bold claim is being made by Edward Naughton, and was picked up here and there across the web. The problem seems to be that Android's Bionic, a glibc alternative, supposedly violates the GPL by stripping the Linux kernel header files of all comments and other extraneous information and relicensing them under a more permissive license so that non-GPL programs can be written. Bradley Kuhn, former FSF executive director and expert on GPL violations, believes the claims are way overblown.

Kuhn's argument is as unsatisfying as he says Naughton's is. Neither is a full analysis. All that Kuhn is really saying is that Naughton hasn't fully analyzed this. He isn't actually saying that he's wrong, just that he might be, or that he might only be partly correct. But neither has he done any analysis. In fact, his own arguments are mere speculation.

This does need further work. But for now, it doesn't look good for Google.